Two lives were saved last week by two B.C. police officers, with each having to administer an opioid-countering drug plus CPR in separate incidents.
Both also happened in the small community of Trail, and just two days apart, on Oct. 5 and 7.
Trail RCMP Sgt. Mike Wicentowich said the officers’ quick and decisive actions ensured both men survived their near-fatal ordeals.
“Drug overdoses are very real, and we expect them to happen more frequently as the drug supplies are contaminated,” Wicentowich told Global News. “They can be fatal.”
The first incident happened last Thursday, just after 2 a.m., after a woman phoned and said her 46-year-old husband was in medical distress and that he had stopped breathing while consuming a substance believed to be fentanyl.
When Const. Ben Ansems arrived, he found the victim laying on his back in a bed, not breathing.
The officer administered two doses of naloxone (NARCAN), but the victim remained unresponsive. His pulse was checked, and the officer then began performing CPR after moving him to the floor.
“He performed CPR for approximately five minutes until the man suddenly regained consciousness,” said Trail RCMP. “The man was placed into a recovery position after he began breathing on his own.”
The man was then transported to hospital.
“NARCAN and the CPR saved this man’s life,” said Wicentowich. “It was truly a miraculous case.”
Two days later, and just before 5:30 p.m., Const. Isak Ator was on routine patrol when she discovered a 31-year-old local resident lying unconscious in a downtown intersection
The man wasn’t breathing and had pale skin and blue lips.
Ator administered NARCAN, with no response, then began performing CPR.
“Shortly after starting CPR, the man regained consciousness,” said Trail RCMP, adding the man declined further medical help and left the area.
“It’s not typical for police to be called out to an overdose unless they believe it’s an unsafe situation. And it is rare that officers are the ones called out to administer NARCAN,” said Cpl. James Grandy.
Wicentowich commended both officers, but added that three or four minutes is all it takes for a lethal overdose to claim a life.